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  PURITY OF HEART
  by Norman Troyer
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Summary: This sermon emphasizes the importance of having a pure heart
devoted solely to God, focusing on the concept of being free from
contamination and having a singularity of purpose in serving Him. It
delves into the significance of wholeheartedly serving God and the need
for unity and oneness in the church. The message also touches on the
challenges of facing trials, seeking wisdom from God, and the dangers of
being double-minded or having divided loyalty.

Duration: 1:01:27 Topics: "Purity of Heart", "Unity in Service"
Scripture References: Matthew 5:8, Exodus 20:3, Deuteronomy 6:4, James 1:2, James 4:8, Luke 10:38, Isaiah 41:10, Hebrews 12:2, 1 Corinthians 15:58

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon emphasizes the importance of having a pure heart devoted
solely to God, focusing on the concept of being free from contamination
and having a singularity of purpose in serving Him. It delves into the
significance of wholeheartedly serving God and the need for unity and
oneness in the church. The message also touches on the challenges of
facing trials, seeking wisdom from God, and the dangers of being double-
minded or having divided loyalty.

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CONTENT
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I greet everyone in Jesus' name this morning. Just thankful to God this
morning for His mercies that are new every morning and His grace that
still allows us to be here and to just have another day, another
opportunity to serve Him. Let's pray.

Feel free to stand if you like. Father in heaven, thank you for this new
day. Thank you for this time to be together here.

Thank you for the scriptures that were read this morning and your word
that was shared, the songs that were sung, pray that they could just be
in our hearts and we would just continue to be ministered to today here
by your word. And we just praise you for your faithfulness to us. We
pray for those that are sick, pray that you would heal them according to
your will.

We'll just pray this morning for our father-in-law and mother-in-law,
pray that you would grant them healing according to your will as they're
battling this sickness. We pray this morning that you would just give us
ears to hear and hearts to understand. Help us to be keen to your
spirit.

Pray also that you would give us a purity of heart. We thank you for
Jesus again and for his blood that he shed for us and we pray these
things in his name, amen. I'd like to start by reading Matthew chapter
5, verse 8. These are just some thoughts that I've been thinking
recently and shared some of them last week at our meeting in Ohio.

Matthew 5, verse 8 says, blessed are the pure in heart for they shall
see God. When we were visiting Arizona last winter, maybe it wasn't this
last winter, the winter before, Brother Malin, I think most of you would
know him, he's been here, shared something about this verse that stood
out to me and I just remembered it. I also wrote down a few things that
he said about this.

It changed, I guess, the way I looked at this verse. Before I always
considered this verse to be more talking about being clean, I guess. Our
hearts being clean.

And I looked up just a definition of pure and the first definition was
not mixed or adulterated with any other substance or material. And the
last definition was free of any contamination. And the last one would
have probably been in my mind like what I normally thought of.

And just to maybe give a little bit of a material illustration of the
idea that I would like to communicate is if you would have a glass of
pure water and you would take some of Duane's pure honey and put it in
there, you would no longer have pure water. Even though you wouldn't
really say it's contaminated, it's just not pure anymore. It's not just,
it's been adulterated with another substance.

A quote that Malin shared, and I think he got it out of a book, I don't
remember, was to be pure in heart is to will one thing. It's a, I guess,
I don't know, would you say a singularity of purpose or intent, not a
divided, we don't have any divided loyalty, I guess, if our heart is
pure in our service to God. I'm going to read Exodus chapter 20, verse
3. It says, you shall have no other gods before me.

Is that the one I want? Yeah. And I don't know, that's how, this is a
new King James, how this reads, but the German always seemed like it,
the meaning could have been taken slightly different. I think this
meaning, it can be understood correctly, but in German, the word that's
used seems to mean more, not just before me as in order of importance,
but no other gods besides me, or aside from me, or except for me.

Very important to God that we're wholeheartedly serving Him, that our
whole heart is towards Him. I'm going to turn to Deuteronomy 6, verses 4
through 9. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall
love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with
all your strength.

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You
shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them
when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down,
and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and
they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
It seems that it was very important to God to communicate to the
children of Israel that their God was one, that He is one God, and just
Jesus' desire, I think Robert touched on it, was for unity, for the
church, and Jesus prayed that we would be one in the same way that He
and the Father are one. I think I'm saying that right.

It just seems like it comes out pretty strongly. God desires unity,
oneness with us and for us with each other. I think that one of the ways
that that is best or most likely to be is if we have a pure heart and
all the same desire to serve God with all our heart, soul, mind, and
strength.

Doing that, I think, with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength
requires a singleness of heart, a purity of heart. We can't be just kind
of half way into it, and the other half kind of has other ambitions,
whatever, career, I don't know. You can just think about other things
that our heart might be drawn towards.

When I was reading the last verses here about these words, how you shall
teach them diligently to your children and talk of them when you sit in
your house and walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up.
Just as a parent, I was just convicted that I'm not sure that I'm doing
that. That just sounds really intense.

I just don't even talk that much about anything. But I don't know. This
morning, I think it was just this morning, I had the thought then that I
think we are teaching our children something all the time just by our
life, by the choices that we make, by the things we do, by how we react
to situations.

If we're driving down the road and somebody needs help and we drive on
by, I think we're teaching our children something. If we stop and help,
I think we're teaching our children something. If they have a question
and we're in a hurry and we don't take time to answer, I think we're
teaching them something.

And on the other hand, I guess what I'm saying is, I think we are
teaching our children something. I think I am teaching them something.
And I need to be sure that what I'm teaching them are these things of
God, these words, words of God, the ways of God.

Nevertheless, I think probably the one verse, I don't know what the one
verse says specifically, talk of them. So I think there's importance in
that to verbally communicating about these things. Sitting quietly, I
had written down here.

Meditating. I think we'd be teaching our children something if they see
us doing that. Oh, one of the things I just wrote down here is one of my
thoughts about this as I was thinking was children working with their
parents.

I think that's a good thing because I think children learn the most from
the people that they're with the most. So I appreciated that. I helped
work on Friday, a couple of brothers, and there's a lot of boys there, I
think, learning from their fathers.

I think that's good. I guess one point I was making in regards to those
verses is that I don't think we always have to be talking to fulfill
that. Brother Yossin shared a verse last week out of Psalms that says be
still and know that I am God.

Just, we should be able to just sometimes just be still, be quiet,
meditate, maybe even in a meeting together. Should not be uncomfortable
to just sit quietly and meditate. Next verse I'm going to read is
Matthew 6, Matthew chapter 6, verse 24.

This verse just talks about having one master, not having a divided
loyalty. No one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one
and love the other or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the
other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

I guess this verse is speaking maybe specifically about mammon when he
says about serving two masters but probably other things could fit in
there. When I think about serving two masters and hating one and loving
the other in my life as an example, this is not a spiritual example but
just some jobs that I had when I was about 15, 14, 15. I had two jobs
and two masters at the same time.

One was, I guess they were both part time. One was working for a farmer
and the other one was working in a foundry. And the farmer was my first
job.

He could call me in whenever he needed me and if I wasn't working for
him I went and worked at the other job. And I hated the one job and I
hated the other. I mean I loved the one job and I hated the other.

I think it would be, I don't know, probably be accurate to say the same
about the masters. I just loved the one and I hated the other. And I
wished I could always be working for the one.

I remember that one day I went to my second job because I hadn't been
called for the first one and I was already there just getting ready to
start working when the first guy called the first master and said, this
hay is ready to make. I need you to come over here. And I was so joyful.

It was just like I had been pulled out of a, felt like I had been pulled
out of a pit. It was that I just hated it so much. I don't know, I think
probably like in the physical realm people can have two jobs, work for
two different people and like them both.

I don't know if it's almost possible not to have a preference, like one
better than the other, but that was an experience I had when I was young
and still, I don't know, pretty immature. I still have a lot to learn in
that regard. I would like to think that I've learned something since I
was 15, but when it comes to serving God, it's just not an option to try
to serve him a couple days a week and serve another master the other
days.

Just a few more verses, James chapter 1, verse 2 through 8. My brethren,
count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the
testing of your faith produces patience, but let patience have its
perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If
any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally
and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in
faith with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea,
driven and tossed by the wind.

For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the
Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. A double-
minded man is a man who is not pure in heart.

A man who is not pure in heart is to will one thing. When we add just a
comment on the first part, the first three verses, we should count it
joy when we fall into various trials. If any of you lacks wisdom, let
him ask of God.

If we ask God for wisdom or patience, he gives it to us, but he often
does it in ways that we don't, that aren't really, really fun, you know,
or he, how would I say it, he just doesn't hand it to us on a plate. We
go through trials and testings and those things produce patience,
wisdom. I'll read James chapter 4, verse 8. Draw near to God and he will
draw near to you.

Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-
minded. Sinners, cleanse your hands, and double-minded, purify your
hearts. And I'll just close by reading Luke chapter 10, starting in
verse 38.

This is a little bit of a side note. Often when I read something, my
mind just, I don't know, kind of goes to other things other than the
subject or the thing that I'm intending to read it for, but I was just
reminded as I was reading this, or the thought came to me. This is about
Martha and Mary, and Martha complained to Jesus about Mary, asking him
to tell her, to help her.

And I thought, how many times, there's a number of times, I don't know
how many, but whenever somebody came to Jesus and complained about
somebody else, and wanted him to tell this other person something, like
how many times did he take their side and agree with them? I'm not sure
he ever did, but instead he always just pointed something out to them.
It was just an interesting side note to me to think about. Let's start
reading here.

Luke 10, verse 38. Now it happened as they went that he entered a
certain village, and a certain woman named Martha welcomed him into her
house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and
heard his word.

But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached him and
said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?
Therefore, tell her to help me. And Jesus answered and said to her,
Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things, but one
thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part which will not be
taken away from her. Just want to think about that one thing, the one
thing that is needed.

Let's choose that part. Do you want to just invite any comments or
corrections or criticisms? Yeah, I just wanted to say amen to the
message and that I appreciate it too. Not a good thought that we can
make practical applications to in our lives.

Just a few thoughts like Norman said, when we ask God for wisdom and
patience, he doesn't just hand it to us on a platter. I really
appreciate that. I know I've thought about that in terms of patience.

He sends us to trial to learn patience. We should be joyful for that. I
guess I often feel that I lack wisdom in it.

Of the things that I pray for, that's probably one of the things I
probably ask the Lord for every day, is for wisdom. I appreciated
recognizing, oh yeah, it's kind of in the same context there. It kind of
works the same way.

God gives us situations that he wants us to learn wisdom from. I guess I
think I have thought maybe even subconsciously, why does he just say so
simply that ask for wisdom and it will be given to you, and yet I keep
asking for wisdom and I just don't think I get it. I'm just more
inclined to realize now that maybe I'm just not learning it from the
daily situations that I face, or recognizing it as his answer to my
prayers.

I'm glad to rethink some of that. I also really appreciate it, just
bringing out how Jesus seldom, if ever, took the side of somebody that
came with a complaint about someone else. I just want to look more into
that.

I think that's just pretty amazing how that works. Maybe something we
should even learn from a little more when it comes to child training and
working with people. If that's the example Jesus left of how he worked
with people, he's all knowing about the situations too, but I think it's
probably a good example to follow.

I wanted to say I'm very blessed to be here. Just overall and in
general, all the thoughts and comments that were made are edifying, and
the songs we sang, and nothing to add, I don't think, other than I had
some scattered thoughts throughout the meeting, but I just really
appreciate being challenged in the areas of believing how we have to
believe. I think even further, whatever we're going to believe in, we
have to know that it's trustworthy.

We wouldn't just believe in blindness, right? We know the Lord is
trustworthy, so we believe in him, and we know that we have to be
trustworthy ourselves. We want people to believe our reports. Then the
thoughts of having a single heart and a single eye that Norman was
bringing out are pretty timely for me.

We're being challenged a bit at the moment with that, with communicating
with that sub-shake and just having to kind of dig in. It seems on one
hand it's so easy, just so easy to see that you don't do certain things
because that shows a divided heart, but then people throw in all kinds
of man-made things and things that happened throughout history to
confuse it, and pretty soon you're like with the glass with honey in it,
what is this? Is this honey or is it water or what is this? But for me,
I think it's really a good challenge just to see how sufficient and how
good the Word of God is, Jesus' teachings, just how sufficient they are.
But then on my end, just how we have to keep that hunger, we have to
keep that thirsting after it if we want it, and I think that's where
people lose it.

Even people that have been with us and have left, they lose it because
they get sight-tracked and they get, I remember Duane talking about the
manna and the wilderness not being sufficient for the children of
Israel. They wanted all leeches and whatever it was that they had in
Egypt. So this manna that's given in the wilderness, it is sufficient.

We need to feed on it daily and not get sight-tracked. So praise God.
Thank you, Brother Norman.

Appreciate those points about being quiet and teaching lessons. How do
they say, more caught than taught is the expression. The mysterious
character of Jesus, how he would speak to Pilate but refused to talk to
Herod.

That's his way. Brother Duane's comments, I wrote down five or six.
Maybe you can think of five or six.

When someone came to complain to Jesus, he brushed them aside. I just
wrote down a few. They brought children to Jesus and they told him, get
the children away.

He said, no, let the children come to me. A man came and said, share my
inheritance. Tell my brother to share my inheritance.

Jesus said, who made me a judge over you? People were casting out
demons. John and another disciple came to Jesus and said, hey, we met
some. He said, hey, leave them alone.

If they're not against me, they're for you. Then John and James said,
when Samaria, why don't you send down fire from heaven and get these
Samaritans? He said, leave them alone. You don't know what men you are.

The woman caught in adultery, they said, hey, time for her to stone. He
says, well, he brushed them off. Let whom has no sin.

You can probably think of ten more examples like Norman said that he
never took the side of that person there. Anyway, that was something.
The Lord be magnified.

I also want to express my appreciation for what was shared in the
challenge. I mean, this is the thing we should be challenging ourselves
about. OK, sorry.

The one little thought that I thought to share was that as far as our.
Well, OK, I did have a thought that maybe part of the term heart.
Obviously, he's not talking about the organ that pumps our blood like
it's our devotion and our affection.

And I was. I don't have that. I would have just looked it up real quick.

If I had the app on my phone, I don't have the app on the concordance
app on my phone. Just study it out real quick. But I kind of wondered if
if it's always implied like like a goal.

Their heart is if there's an implication of a goal or a destination.
Plans are an end. Yeah.

Yeah, I'm not sure. But as far as the necessity for our the entirety of
our heart or our devotion. To be for him and for the things.

I'm not sure how to phrase it, but anyway, the thought that I had was
just because because that's the price. That's what it costs. That's the
only way.

It's the only way we can. It's the only way we can obtain it. Like if
there was something we wanted to buy, we opened up.

It cost one hundred dollars. We opened up our wallet. We have one
hundred dollars.

If we don't give the person all the money, we won't get the thing. If we
say, well, I'll give I'll give 90 of my dollars for that. But I still
want to use 10 of my other dollars for something else.

We won't be able to purchase that thing. It costs costs all of our
money. Is it this reference to somebody finding a treasure and selling
all that they have? Like it's what it's what it costs.

And if it anyway, it's for sure. That's for sure worth it. It's worth
more than all that we have.

But if we give if we give all that we have, you know, I think it's fair
to say. He either he either he makes up for the rest or that that's
acceptable. I don't have much to add.

I just want to share my appreciation, too, for all that was shared today
and the different comments. And I'll just say something else. Do I have
to do so? Okay.

I just thought that I had that. I wasn't sure if I would if I would
share like I have this. Well, there's this concept I think about a lot
about to the two parts of the two parts of the gospel or two parts of
the kingdom or the ways of God.

The first one being having to do with the law, being a schoolmaster that
leads us to Christ. This idea of the law being like laying out what sin
is, consequences for sin, teaching us that sin is bad, teaching us what
things are sin. And that this this misconception that that like the goal
of our faith is to is to quit sinning.

I'd say that, though, that's though it's a necessity of our faith to
quit sinning, that quitting abstaining from sin like brings us to zero,
like the rich, the rich young ruler. So what do I do to inherit eternal
life? He said, basically, Jesus, I said, I think, said, quit sinning.
These are sins.

Don't do these sins. He said, I, you know, I've I've mastered these
things from my youth. And he says, OK, now that you've quit sinning now,
let me now follow me.

Let me teach you, teach you Christ. So it's more than just so that the
passage that Norman read that I think applies to that. I think when it
says purify, purify your hands means get rid of sin in your life and
then cleanse your heart is like, OK, now, now, now, let Christ be the
one thing that you devote yourself to.

And so the. The principle there being. It's not enough to.

Recognize sin in our life, but to recognize the lack of the lack of
devotion or not a lack of devotion. The thing I kind of wanted to say
was like that there's nothing. There's nothing more valuable.

There's nothing better than recognizing hypocrisy in our life and
recognize recognizing any area in which we are. Withholding devotion or
giving our devotion to something else that we can say. So the trap is.

Well, there's there's these things that are not sinful. That that my.
You know, I'm investing in.

Heart or time to. That are not that it's not. But my time is not solely
toward him.

So anyway, like, I'm not sure if I tied that together well enough, but
just not not just recognizing sin in our life. That needs to be
overcome, but recognizing. I guess the point I want to make is that the
recognizing of it, like if we can.

For that to be brought. For any hypocrisy. Or any.

Withheld devotion or any misplaced devotion, any if we can recognize
that. You know, that's it's it's precious. I don't know what could be.

What could be more. What could be more valuable or how anything could be
more valuable than recognizing. Misplaced devotion.

He. See. To the strong.

It is. It is. It is.

It is. It is. See.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Now. Yeah.

Yeah. Oh. I am the last.

I am the last. The strong is the battle. Not to the swift is the race.

Yet to the true is promise. Through grace. Against thine enemies.

And sea. For sinners and chariots and of people more than thou. Be not
afraid of them.

For the Lord thy God is with thee. For the Lord thy God is with thee. Be
not.

For the Lord thy God is with thee. But thou go'st not to battle against
thine enemies. And sea.

For sinners and chariots and of people more than thou. Be not afraid of
them. Be not afraid of them.

For the Lord thy God is with thee. Which brought thee up. Out of the
land of Eden.

And the king was in the fire that where he lay. They let him through the
streets in shame. They spread upon the saviors.

So pure and free from sin. Mixed and crucified in peace to reign. He
heard the call.

Of heaven and earth and angels. To destroy the world and set him free.
When the animal said.

Embrace the crown of thorns. They laughed and said behold the king. They
struck him and they cursed him.

And mocked his holy name. Although he suffered everything. He heard the
call.

Of heaven and earth and angels. And set him free. Running by the water
nearby.

He said well then behold thy son. He cried I thirst for water. But they
gave him not to drink.

And a single word of heaven was done. He heard the call. Of heaven and
earth and angels.

And set him free. He heard the call. Of heaven and earth and angels.

Running by the water nearby. He did not for mercy cry. The host of sheep
cried its finish.

He gave himself to God. Salvation's wondrous plan was done. He heard the
call.

Of heaven and earth and angels. And set him free. Running by the water
nearby.

The world and all its pleasures. Try to lower your soul away. It is all
the devil's planning.

To deceive and be astray. Why not take a little hardship. If we're only
traveling through.

It's before you. Jesus had a plan for you. Have the cross that is before
you.

Know the world tries to beguile. Will you take his yoke upon you. And
yourself beguile.

Jesus said what does it provide. To gain a longer soul. For one day he
must stand before him.

As once and for all. If this world you have forsaken. Teach your friends
the words of life.

They will say you're full of judgment. Lacking love and daunting strife.
These are all false accusations.

Count it joy my brother dear. For the saints and the saints who labor
here. Heard of the men that were in Egypt.

Led from bondage through the sea. Turned against the God of Jacob. Their
own flesh they'd rather please.

Now that we've been freed from Egypt. Will the king or the spies. Of
Lord like Israel.

Fall short of passing through. Brothers sisters we're in battle. Fight
with sin and stand your ground.

Just look up redemption's nearing. Soon you'll hear the trumpet sound.
Then we'll see our king in glory.

Coming from his throne alive. Shouting praise to our redeemer. We'll
meet him in the sky.

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/_A3jcLy5WBU.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/norman-troyer/purity-of-heart/
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